Keith Rosen's Executive Sales Coaching Blog on Selling, Leadership, Management

Through the Eyes of a Salesperson: Is Cold Calling Really Dead? Develop a Permission Based Prospecting Strategy to Set More Appointments with Qualified Prospects

May 28, 2009 Books by Keith Rosen, Prospecting, Cold Calling and Networking, Sales Coaching, Sales Training, cold calling, sales tips, sales tools, tele-sales, telesales

Lately, I’ve been getting a high volume of calls from sales managers and their salespeople struggling to meet their sales goals. So, let me paint you a visual of the typical scenario being played out through the eyes of a salesperson; one that you may be intimately familiar with.

You’re on your way to work and during your commute, you’re thinking about what you hope to accomplish that day.

You get to your office, sit down at your desk and open up your calendar. A concerned look sweeps over your face. “Only one appointment this week.”

You look at your pipeline and get that squirmy feeling inside your gut, as you realize your pipeline is not as full as it used to be. You’re wondering where you’re going to find your next prospect.

The uncertainty begins to sweep over you. The stress starts creeping into your body, for you realize you can’t keep procrastinating making the cold calls you need to in order to book more appointments with key decision makers.

You remember what your boss told you. “Your funnel is drying up,” he says. “You’ve got to get on the phone and make more calls to your existing clients and to new prospects if you want to meet your goals.”

“Okay I can do this,” you tell yourself.

You find some people to call.

You take a deep breath and start dialing their number. “C’mon just answer the phone,” you say to yourself.

“Voice mail.” You don’t leave a message because you never get your calls returned anyway.

You dial the second number on you call list. Someone answers the phone and you hear, “Mrs. Johnson’s office, how can I help you?”

“Great, another gatekeeper,” you mutter to yourself. You’re actually caught off guard that a live person answered your call. Thirty seconds later, after your valiant, yet ineffective attempt to connect with your prospect, you hear a pleasant but well trained, “No thank you. We’re not interested.” You’re off the phone with the gatekeeper in less than one minute, as she’s been conditioned not to take unsolicited calls, especially cold calls.

You dial the third and fourth number. No luck. “More gatekeepers,” you say. “Why can’t I get past them?” you ask yourself. You start questioning if luck is actually what you really need or if there is more to cold calling than you originally thought.

“Okay one more shot.” You push yourself to dial the fifth number on your call list.

Someone picks up. Shockingly, it’s the prospect! Maybe you’ll get ‘lucky.’ And knowing that you need to open up this call with something gripping and compelling to grab this prospect’s attention to the point where they stop what they’re doing and want to engage in a conversation with you, you say, “Um, Hi. Mr. Smith? Uh, this is Chris from ABC logistics. How are you today?”

“Busy!” he says. And with that, he hangs up the phone.

Now, you’re depleted, frustrated and annoyed. You don’t understand why you’re unable to set the appointments with the prospects who you know you can help and therefore need to meet with. In a discouraging tone, you ask yourself, “Why won’t they talk to me? I know I can help them. If only they’d give me some time on the phone.”

You feel you’ve just wasted three hours of your day that you’ll never get back. In desperation, you cry out, “This cold calling thing doesn’t work for me! What else can I do to schedule meetings with more qualified prospects who can buy from me?”

And that’s when you ask yourself this toxic question which is often followed with a ‘yes’ that feeds the justification of your performance. “Is cold calling really dead?”

No, I did not have a hidden webcam secretly installed in your office, in case you’re wondering how I’ve been able to paint such a vivid picture that so closely resembles what you may be experiencing yourself. If anything, take some comfort in knowing that you are not alone and you can do something about it.

So, what is the answer? Is cold calling really dead? The answer is a resound, “Not even close.” Therefore, do not abandon cold calling! Cold calling is far from dead and I see evidence of this every day. After all, a majority of all Fortune 500 companies utilize some form of telephone prospecting every day.

Sure, I realize for many people cold calling and prospecting ranks right up there with getting their teeth pulled without the gas.

However, as an executive sales coach who has coached and trained thousands of salespeople over the years, here’s what I’ve learned very early on. It’s not that cold calling doesn’t work. Cold calling works fabulously well. It’s the way you’re cold calling that doesn’t work. In other words, consider that it’s more about your approach and cold calling strategy; what you say and how you say it – that is ineffective and what your prospects are unresponsive to.

So be careful. Most people who feel cold calling doesn’t work in actuality, have learned the wrong lesson.

For example, if I asked you to go outside and dig a ten foot deep hole with a spoon, do you learn the lesson, “Well, I guess I can’t dig holes very well” or is the real lesson; “If I had the right tools I would have been able to accomplish this goal faster, with less effort.” You see, it’s all about the tools you’re using when cold calling. Even if you handed Tiger Woods, one of the greatest golfers of all time, a pair of lefty clubs, while he still may outperform most golfers he would not be able to operate at his best, at the pinnacle of his potential, simply because he’s using the wrong tools. The same philosophy applies to your career and to cold calling.

Most salespeople sound exactly the same as every other person when calling on the same prospect, rather than develop their unique and compelling message that grabs someone’s ear to the point where they are interested in what you have to say. Why should a prospect want to hear the same approach time and time again? How can that possibly distinguish you?

So if you’re not getting the results you need, instead of abandoning a proven selling strategy, it’s time to upgrade your cold calling and follow up system. With a strong prospecting and cold calling model that is mapped out step by step; which also includes the compelling opening statement you need, the reasons why someone should listen to you in the first place (rather than opening up a call by asking for an appointment, demo, proposal, etc.), well crafted questions to determine if there’s even a fit between you and your prospect, as well as a strong voice mail and follow up strategy, you will see what a competitive edge “cold calling” can give you.

Side note: Over the last year, my cold calling book has been gaining more popularity as competition increases and the need to find more qualified prospects to fill your pipeline intensifies. So, if you’re ready to develop a permission based prospecting system that will enable you:

Here’s the link to Amazon to read all the five star reviews or you can go to my website here to learn more about this book.

Tags: appointment setting, cold call, cold calling, phone tips, prospecting, Sales Coaching, sales tips, telesales

Tom Hopkins Week on CanDoGo.com

May 27, 2009 Sales Training, Selling Advice, Videos

This week on CanDoGo is Tom Hopkins week. He will be the featured author all week on CanDoGo.com.

In honor of this amazing thought leader, CanDoGo.com will be featuring classic short video’s including some of Tom’s most memorable messages on sales and sales leadership.

Tap into some of his greatest archives today while they’re still available to you for free. Just visit CanDoGo.com.
(You can also find my content on CanDoGo.com as well here.)

Here are three of Tom’s tips below and some additional videos:

Tom’s Tip #1
Just Say Thank You
By Tom Hopkins

Do you remember sending Thank You Cards after sales calls or meetings? I do. And it wasn’t all that long ago that it created strong relationships and referrals. It’s a lost art, and now more than ever our sales teams need every advantage they can get. Check out Tom Hopkins here on this very thought.

Tom’s Tip #2

Watch the Video

Four Things That Occur at the Close
1. You help clients rationalize a decision they want to make.
2. You help clients head off procrastination.
3. You help clients deal with their fear.
4. You help clients overcome indecision.

Tom’s Tip #3
Work Smarter, Not Harder
By Tom Hopkins
Watch the Video

If you are a salesperson wanting to increase your income, please understand that you don’t have to devote more hours to selling to increase your sales, just increase your selling skills instead. You will be closing more sales in the same amount of time.

You see, if you want to make more money, you have two choices—you can try to sell to more customers, or you can get better at selling. Since there is only so much time in which you can sell, I suggest the latter. Work smarter, not harder. Seeing too many customers will limit your ability to give each and every one of them the good service they deserve.

Since service is the essence of professional sales, isn’t it wise to get better at serving those customers you sell thus building a strong base of good customers?

Here are Some More Related Winning CanDoGo™ Insights by Tom Hopkins

Maintain Control of the Presentation - Tom Hopkins
You can Master the Rapport Rap - Tom Hopkins
The Best Things in Life Close - Tom Hopkins

Tags: Sales Training, video

The Anatomy of a Cold Call – The Five Critical Objectives

May 22, 2009 Prospecting, Cold Calling and Networking, Sales Coaching, sales tips, tele-sales, telesales

“What do I need to accomplish in the first few minutes of every cold call I make?” “What’s my overall objective of a cold call?” These questions rank up there as two of the top questions I’m asked. If you’ve been following my last few posts, I’ve been hyper-focused on the importance of sales benchmarking and identifying best practices.

In the spirit of simplicity, there are actually five core objectives during a prospecting conversation which I’ve listed below.

That’s it! Now ask yourself, does your system achieve these five core objectives?
 

Tags: cold call, coldcalling, prospecting, prospects, Sales Coaching, telesales, teleselling

Landslide Technologies Named Top 100 Private Companies in Eastern U.S.

May 22, 2009 Business Tools, Prospecting, Cold Calling and Networking, Technology and Software, sales tools

More great news about a company I happen to be a raving fan of. Press release below. Recognition they rightfully deserve.

Landslide Technologies Named Top 100 Private Companies in Eastern U.S. by AlwaysOn

Company Selected as Technology Innovator in SaaS and Enterprise for 2009

Landslide Technologies today announced that it has been selected to the 2009 AlwaysOn East 100 List. The AlwaysOn East 100 winners were selected from among hundreds of other technology companies nominated by investors, bankers, journalists and industry insiders. The AlwaysOn editorial team conducted a rigorous three-month selection process to finalize the 2009 list. Landslide was selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team based on demonstration of growth, market opportunity, quality of innovation and customer traction

Landslide Technologies was selected for its solid customer traction and focus on helping companies build world class sales organizations. Landslide’s Sales P3 System is the only cloud computing offering that combines powerful sales process software with live personal sales assistants to provide salespeople a complete environment for increasing sales.

From providing the ability to embed proven sales processes in the day to day lives of sales reps, to providing the right job aids at the right time and personal assistants to offload data entry work, the Landslide Sales P3 System is purpose-built for the sales organization.

“We selected Landslide because of their single-minded focus on increasing sales,” said Chris Roussos, CEO, OrthoSynetics. “We expect to see significant improvement in our sales team’s productivity by supporting them with best-practice sales processes and the personal live assistants.”

Since its launch in 2006, the company has received awards from industry experts including the ‘Cool Vendor’ award from Gartner Group, the Product Innovation Award from Frost and Sullivan, the ‘One to watch’ by CRM Magazine two years in a row and has been twice included in Gartner’s SFA Magic Quadrant as a Visionary company. In addition, the company’s focus on sales process and the needs of the salesperson has won it endorsements from leading sales experts such as Michael Bosworth, Jill Konrath, Gerhard Gschwandtner, Keith Rosen, Dave Kurlan and many more.

“The AlwaysOn selection of Landslide is a validation of what our customers have known all along: that Landslide is the first true sales-centric offering built with a mission to help salespeople succeed,” said Razi Imam, CEO, Landslide Technologies. “Our focus on helping salespeople close more deals rather than just capture more data is what distinguishes us from traditional sales offerings.”

Landslide and the other AlwaysOn East 100 winners will be recognized at the Venture Summit East Conference at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston, MA, on May 20-22. This two-and-a-half day executive conference is co-presented by J.P. Morgan and Forbes and will feature presentations and high-level debates from the most influential institutional investors, venture capitalists, corporate buyers, investment bankers and research analysts in the Eastern U.S.

“It’s no secret that technology and innovation are vital to bringing our country out of economic recession,” said Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. “The companies on this year’s list have not only created innovative technologies that solve real business problems, but have stimulated economic growth through the generation of new jobs. I congratulate every winner selected for this year’s award and wish them all tremendous success in the future.”

A full list of all the AlwaysOn East 100 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn website at http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/32212

About AlwaysOn
ALWAYSON ignited the open-media revolution in early 2003 by being the first media brand to launch a global blog network. In 2004, ALWAYSON continued to lead the media industry in innovation by introducing a social network where members can connect and engage. ALWAYSON is also revolutionizing the media business by applying its open-media principles to its executive event series (Summit at Stanford, OnMedia, OnHollywood, GoingGreen East and West, Venture Summit East and West) and quarterly print “blogozine” by empowering its members to post and share their ideas and meet each other online. As our loyal readers know, ALWAYSON is committed to the free-market, merit-driven approach to reporting and event programming. No other media brand has dared to create such open interaction with its readers and event participants.

About Landslide Technologies
Landslide Technologies is the provider of Landslide Sales P3 System, a Sales Production System that helps BtoB companies increase sales volume. Landslide Sales P3 System is the first system that combines sales process consistency with sales performance technology and outsourced administrative services to transform individual performers into a world-class team of consistent sales. The company is privately held with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. Additional information can be found at landslide.com.

Tags: aps, crm, database, sales tools, technology, tools for salespeople

Stop Focusing on Your Goals and Start Honoring Your Process

May 19, 2009 Business Advice, Business Coaching, Career Advice, Executive Coaching, How to Manage Your Team, Insights in Business, Live Responsibly: Life Tips, Great Living, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training, coaching for managers, management tips, sales articles

The result is the process. A timely paradox and critical mind shift that every salesperson and manager must make if they want to transcend the mediocre performance they may be experiencing today.

Even before you can engage in the type of sales benchmarking activities that I wrote about the other day, (you can find that blog post here) or even take the time to refine your selling skills, you will come head to head with resistance to selling by the numbers if this change in attitude around how we approach selling is not fully embraced beforehand.

I was reminded how important this was during a seminar I delivered last week in NYC. At the end of the seminar, one manager raised his hand and posed this question to me. He said, “Our sales cycle has changed dramatically. Our salespeople can no longer make a call and take an order. Our product offering has been modified and as a result, the average cost of our product has increased, which has all contributed to a longer sales cycle. However, my salespeople are still reluctant to change. They’re still stuck in that transactional way of selling. They’re getting more frustrated and discouraged because sales aren’t happening fast enough, all because they’re unsure how to manage this longer selling cycle. I’ve told them many times over, that our sales cycle is no longer the way it used to be, and we need to be more patient with the process and more consultative with our customers. I’ve explained to them over and over again, that we need to modify and re-engineer our selling process in response to these new challenges, the changes we’re up against and how our customers make a purchasing decision and buy from us. What else can I do?”

As this sales manager was explaining his challenge, I was thinking to myself how important it is today, more than ever, to become process driven. Without this change in our thinking, salespeople will be unable to honor the process needed to convert more conversations into sales, let alone build out a more robust process and selling strategy that will enable them to do so. As such, the eternal conflict between our tactical strategy and our thinking will continue to rage on.
I have a detailed article on this very subject that you can find here. The original title of this article was WARNING! Goals May Be Hazardous To Your Success. Are They Sabotaging Your Selling Efforts?

As my colleague Dr. Tony Alessandra explains in the following statistics, “It’s amazing how many times success can be assured by attending to the basics of the job.” For example, in a study of 257 Fortune 500 companies, the following was found:

17% do not determine an approximate duration for each sales call.
23% do not use a computer to assist in time and territory management.
28% do not set profit objectives for their accounts.
37% do not use prescribed routing patterns in covering territories.
46% do not look at their use of time in any organized way.
49% do not determine the economical number of calls for each account.
49% do not use prepared sales presentations.
70% do not use call schedules.
75% do not have a system for classifying customers according to sales potential.
76% do not set sales objectives for their accounts.
81% do not use a call report system.

So, the question is: How can you assure your future success by eliminating these oversights?”

The fact is, companies will fail to invest the time in order to eliminate these process oriented oversights and embed these necessary changes into their process if the sales culture is too focused on getting to the result by forging ahead in an attempt to close more sales. Managers can continually push their people to become more mindful of these numbers, however, it’s the process driven questions managers need to be more sensitive to rather than the result driven questions that managers obsess over that continue to perpetuate this toxic way of thinking. Those questions sound like, “Are you hitting your numbers? How many follow-up calls did you make today? How much good volume did you book this month? How many leads did you run this week?” While important, these questions only focus on half of the equation. What is missing is the “How,” that is, the questions that focus on the process the salesperson needs to engage in to achieve the desired end result.

Managers need to stop coaching to the result and start coaching to the process, instead.

Become more mindful of the process that will drive the results you seek. Without the change in your result driven attitude that’s keeping you stuck in the first place, all efforts to better manage your selling strategy by a numeric formula are certain to be short lived.

For salespeople and sales leaders, the fundamental shift in our attitude that needs to occur is this; move away from being so result driven and instead, become more process driven.

We must honor this paradox and break free of the limiting thinking that confines us to the current level of performance we’re experiencing. If we truly want to excel today, realize the result is truly the process.

Here’s more on this paradox.

Tags: coaching, Executive Coaching, management training, sales benchmark, sales benchmarking, Sales Coaching, sales process, sales tips, Sales Training, successful thinking, tips for managers, training for managers

Are You Selling By the Numbers or Selling With a Blindfold On? Statistical Benchmarks for Success and Self Accountability That Most Organizations Are Still Missing

May 13, 2009 Executive Coaching, How To Sell and Sales Tips, How to Manage Your Team, Prospecting, Cold Calling and Networking, Sales Coaching, Sales Management, Sales Training, sales articles, sales tools, training for managers

Stop. Just stop for the next several minutes that it’s going to take you to read this. Okay, now take a breath. Get off the treadmill for a moment and ask yourself these questions. Yes, these questions are that important. So important, in fact, that they could change your entire perspective around what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and how much you really need to be doing in order to generate the worthwhile results you’re looking for.

Because the truth is, you just may be running so fast in an attempt to catch up on your sales numbers, that you didn’t recognize the blinders you’ve developed which are obstructing your view of the fuller picture; the landscape you’re trying to farm and manage when it comes to selling and driving the right sales activity. Here are those questions you need to ask yourself (and your sales team).

“With all the effort I’m putting forth in an attempt to generate more prospects and selling opportunities, following up and retaining existing clients to ensure that I’m bringing in as much business as possible:”

• Am I acutely aware of the activities and benchmarked proven practices (both the activities and the dialogue/message I need to communicate) that I need to engage in daily that would secure my success?
• Am I measuring the numbers and the results of my efforts and allowing these statistical data points to be the driving force behind my sales activities?
• Do I know how much cold calling and prospecting activity is actually enough (emails, voice mails, live calls/connections, letters, and so on) and when to call it quits and move on when attempting to convert a contact into a qualified prospect?
• Do I know how many calls/contacts I need to make each day, each week and how often I need to follow up with a qualified prospect in order to earn their business or move them to the next stage of my sales process? (And have I even defined those specific steps in my sales process to begin with?)
• Am I holding myself accountable when it comes to engaging in the right activities in the most efficient way possible through the effective use of a daily routine?
• When calling on or meeting with prospects, do I have a clear set of outlined objectives that I need to accomplish on every call and during each meeting, especially when delivering a presentation?
• Have I identified the lifetime value of each client or account in order to classify customers according to their sales potential? (What’s the economic impact of the time you invest?)
• Do I have a detailed strategy for each of my clients to ensure that I’m maximizing every conceivable up selling and cross selling opportunity?
• Am I fully leveraging the power and potential of my CRM solution for prospect, client as well as territory management? Do you have a call report system?
• Do I have the right questions that provide me with the critical intel I need in order to qualify each person as a viable prospect so that I can most effectively determine where my limited and precious time is best invested?

And to clarify further when it comes to the type of questions you need to be asking each prospect, this isn’t limited to Selling 101 – Uncovering a Need. I’m also referring to understanding how they buy, how they make decisions, the internal workings of the company, the people and egos involved, the process they are going to go through when they hang up the phone with you or end the meeting and then attempt to solve the problem or find a new solution on their own using the resources or venders they currently have, the concerns or roadblocks that you could encounter down the road that would stall or destroy the potential for a sale, the timely and relevant issues that are going on internally, the overall mood of the company and its leaders, and so on. (Hint: Low closing percentages = misalignment in who you should be presenting to and following up with in the first place.)

If you don’t have the answers to these crucial questions, you’re robbing yourself of the opportunity to enjoy the certainty and peace of mind that comes from utilizing a formulaic approach to selling. After all, if you define it, you can then refine it. So, if you’re ever wondering why you or other salespeople fall into what’s known as a ‘sales slump,’ here’s the main cause of that. They aren’t honoring their sales process by the numbers and as such, those who continue to ‘wing it’ as their overall selling strategy are destined to experience the ups and downs in performance and in their stress level, as well as the waning sense of satisfaction and confidence that’s sure to follow in its wake when this amount of ambiguity and uncertainly is present.

I’ve decided (and many of my clients and readers are on board with this as well, so I hope you’ll join us) that it’s no longer as tough as it was out there. That’s right. Strip away what you hear in the media, and look objectively at what you can control; this one telltale sign that something in your selling formula needs to be developed, modified or redefined:

If there are people in your organization, even in your industry or profession who are currently performing like rock stars, that should provide you with one very critical insight. That is, it can be done because it is currently being done by someone else!

Of course it is going to remain “tough out there” if you don’t have your defined best practices, data points and numeric formula to help support your selling efforts. After all, it’s one thing to up your game and work on developing and refining your selling skills as well as your sales management skills. However, to complement this so that you have a comprehensive solution to better performance, you need to have your finger on the pulse of the numbers that will drive your activities in the first place as you exercise your newfound selling and leadership strategies and newly developed competencies. Use these questions I’ve posed to help uncover the gaps in your data pool that in turn, will help refine your overall approach to how you prospect and sell and the measurable effort that’s required for you to do so successfully.

Here’s a very clear insight into one example of some general statistical information about the selling profession that will help you begin the process of fine tuning and developing your own data driven solution to increasing your sales.

48% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect.
25% of salespeople make a second contact and stop.
12% of salespeople only make three contacts and stop.
Only 10% of salespeople make more than three contacts.

Now, get this:
2% of sales are made on the first contact.
3% of sales are made on the second contact.
5% of sales are made on the third contact.
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact.
But 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact.

Now, these numbers may change depending upon your selling cycle, geographic location, the dollar amount of your deliverable, target audience as well as the service or product you’re selling but the essence of this message still remains in tact. That is, do you have your own set of data available which you have used as the cornerstone to constructing your prospecting and selling strategy? If not, it’s the same as getting into your car and saying to yourself before embarking on a trip, “Okay, I need to get to a specific destination, but I’m not exactly sure which direction to travel nor how long it’s going to take me to get there.”

It’s no longer about simply ‘doing more’ but about doing more of what’s right. In our new marketplace, going out in the field and just doing more of what you did yesterday would be the same as trying to sell VCR’s, pagers and CD’s today. (Even my youngest asked me the other day, “Dad, what’s a CD?”). Your product has changed over the years and while your selling and management strategy needs to evolve as well, this evolution must be guided by the numeric benchmarks in order to see the full, panoramic picture of the truth that surrounds your current situation. This will eliminate the costly oversights I’ve detailed earlier and ensure your future success.

We all need to be reminded of this universal law, “We resist what we need to learn the most.” And interestingly, while salespeople and sales managers are more inclined to take the reactionary, visceral attitude, “Lets just get out there and make it happen,” we need to pull back the reigns before engaging in blind sales activities and instead, start with doing what is often perceived as the more mundane, often boring task of benchmarking the right practices and then measuring their effectiveness by the numbers before embarking on these activities. Empirical data will provide the blueprint you need to succeed as well as the certainty, confidence and conviction necessary for a healthy sales mind and attitude.

After all, the greatest rainmakers realize the importance of checking the weather first so they know where the best locations are to make it rain, and have the tools to do so.

Note: If you’re looking for a great tool to help develop your prospecting formula and the measurable efforts needed to achieve your sales goals, check out my Prospecting Calculator here and enjoy the confidence and certainty you’ll experience when you prospect by the numbers.

Here’s the link to the Prospecting Calculator.

Tags: best practices, Executive Coaching, leadership development, sales benchmarking, Sales Coaching, sales formula, Sales Training, success formula

Weekly Tributes to Gurus and Thought Leaders Begin this Week on CanDoGo.com

May 11, 2009 All About Selling, How To Sell and Sales Tips, Sales Coaching, Videos, sales articles

Here’s something new CanDoGo.com is doing, which sounds worthwhile to check out, especially if you’re a fan of certain thought leaders and gurus on selling, such as Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar.

This week, the week of May 11th-May 15th, they are honoring a living legend Zig Ziglar. CanDoGo.com will be featuring classic short video’s including some of Zig Ziglar’s most memorable messages on sales, leadership, hope, and encouragement.

Let’s show Zig how much we appreciate him and tap into some of his greatest archives. Just visit CanDoGo.com. Here is just a sample of a classic Zig Ziglar tip you can find here.

(You can also find my content on CanDoGo.com as well here.)

Next week’s tribute? CanDoGo’s tribute, honoring none other than, Tom Hopkins will begin May 25th.

Tags: Sales Coaching, sales tips, Sales Training, Videos, webinars

Landslide Now Available on the Force.com AppExchange from Salesforce.com

May 10, 2009 Business Tools, How to Manage Your Team, Sales Training, Technology and Software

Just announced and something each salesperson and sales team need to consider when it comes to leveraging solutions to best manage their prospecting efforts and entire sales process. Salesforce CRM customers can now deploy Landslide Sales Production System. Press release below.

Landslide Technologies, provider of the Landslide Sales P3 System, today announced that it is now available on the Force.com AppExchange from salesforce.com. Salesforce.com users can now quickly and easily add Landslide’s Sales P3 System to their Salesforce CRM deployment to add sales processes and produce a high-octane sales production system.

Landslide’s Sales P3 System is a cloud computing offering that combines sales process software, sales performance tools and personal sales assistants to provide salespeople a complete environment for increasing sales. From providing the ability to embed proven sales processes in the day to day lives of sales reps, to providing the right job aids at the right time and personal assistants to offload data entry work, the Landslide Sales P3 System is a best-in-class offering purpose-built for the sales organization.

Making Landslide’s Sales P3 Systems available on the Force.com AppExchange will allow companies to leverage their investment in Salesforce CRM to build a sales production system that transforms individual performers into a world-class team of consistent sales producers empowered to drive high-volume sales, high-value sales and higher sales velocity.

“Landslide’s integration with Salesforce CRM presented the perfect solution for us as we were looking for ways to maximize our sales productivity,” said Stu Schmidt, Vice President, Global Sales and Services, Unisfair Inc. “It allows us to continue to leverage salesforce.com’s powerful Force.com platform and CRM applications, while letting our sales team take advantage of the sales process implementation of Landslide and its personal assistant services.”

Endorsed by leading sales experts like Michael Bosworth, Jill Konrath, Keith Rosen and Jim Dickie, Landslide has been selected as a “Visionary Quadrant” company and “Cool Vendor” by Gartner Group, “One to Watch” by CRM Magazine and as an Innovative Product by Frost & Sullivan.

About Landslide Technologies

Landslide Technologies is the provider of Landslide Sales P3 System, a Sales Production System that helps BtoB companies increase sales volume. Landslide Sales P3 System is the first system that combines sales processes consistency with sales performance technology and outsourced administrative services. By institutionalizing sales processes, by providing software that leads sales people step by step from first contact to final contract, and by offloading administrative chores, Landslide Sales P3 System turns inconsistent individual performers into a world-class team of consistent sales producers empowered to drive high-volume sales, high-value sales and higher sales velocity. The company is privately held with headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. Additional information can be found at www.landslide.com.

About the Force.com Platform and AppExchange

Force.com is the only proven enterprise platform for building and running business applications in the cloud. The Force.com platform powers the Salesforce CRM applications, more than 800 ISV partner applications like those from CODA and Fujitsu, and more than 100,000 custom applications used by salesforce.com’s 55,400 customers such as Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE and Sprint Nextel.

Applications built on the Force.com platform can be easily distributed to the entire cloud computing community through the Force.com AppExchange marketplace at www.salesforce.com/appexchange/.

Tags: cloud computing, crm, landslide, sales aps, sales performance tools, sales tools

Live Event: How to Take Charge of Your Sales and Sales Team. Speaking at Next Week’s Expo

May 8, 2009 Executive Coaching, HR issues, How to Manage Your Team, Live Events, Sales Management, training for managers

Click here for more information about this event and expo.

For those of you who can attend, I’ll be speaking at The New York Incentive, Rewards and Recognition Expo next Tuesday, May 12 at 11am EST in New York City. The show will be located at the Hilton New York Hotel, 1335 Ave. of the Americas, NYC. Additionally, join the industry leaders in management and marketing, including the Human Capital Institute, marketing gurus Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, and 1 to1® magazine, who are joining forces to create a special education program on Enterprise Engagement. A unique combination of speakers representing all aspects of the emerging field of engagement will also be in attendance, delivering a variety of programs.

Hours:
Tuesday, May 12, 9:00am-5:00pm
Wednesday, May 13, 9:00am-3:00pm

Here’s the description of my program.

11:00-11:50pm
Take Charge of Your Sales and Your Sales Team
To drive positive, measurable change and keep their competitive edge, managers must learn how to quickly and effectively coach, motivate and retain their top producers while turning around the underperformers. Develop the discipline you need to engage, inspire and coach your salespeople into sales champions. Join Keith Rosen, author of the award winning, Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions, as he shares with you how to build and manage a world class, high performing sales team. Presented by Ziglar, Inc., www.CanDoGO.com and the Motivation Professionals Association.

Here are some additional benefits of attending this expo:
• Learn about cost-effective, results-based marketing and managing programs to increase sales, productivity and quality.

• Take advantage of customer, distribution partner, sales, and employee engagement strategies that drive performance without the upfront cost and lack of accountability of traditional marketing and management strategies.

• Learn how properly structured engagement, recognition, and incentive strategies can increase your sales, customer retention and referrals, quality and productivity.
• Get you more measurable costs for much lower upfront costs and greater accountability than traditional marketing and performance strategies.

Because The New York Incentive, Rewards and Recognition Expo offers such a unique opportunity to meet face-to-face with so many desirable brands, attendance is limited strictly to business management involved with planning and recommending incentive, promotion, rewards or recognition programs for their companies or clients.

Click here for more information about this event and expo.

Tags: Executive Coaching, keynote, leadership training, live event, management training, Sales Training, seminar, speaking, training

“Don’t Sell Like You Buy” Nominated for Article of the Month

May 6, 2009 All About Selling, How To Sell and Sales Tips, Sales Coaching, Sales Training, sales articles, sales tips

What a wonderful email to wake up and read.

“I am delighted to confirm that your article, Don’t Sell Like You Buy published by Sales Gravy has been selected as one of the top ten sales articles for April.”

It seems that this article, (actually on of my personal favorites) Don’t Sell Like You Buy has been nominated for one of the best sales Articles of the Month on Top10SalesArticles.com.

You can read the full article here. Below is an except. This article is a result of an experience I had during a training event I was delivering. Another example of learning and sharing the experiences I gain from my clients and every training event I deliver.

“If you’ve never used a certain selling technique, prospecting approach or a particular set of targeted qualifying questions, then how do you know whether or not they will work or how they will be received by your prospects?”

I was building my case. I then turned to the audience and said, “Do not sell the way you buy.”

Now, you may feel at this point that I’m contradicting some universal selling principles. After all, conventional sales wisdom handed down through the ages suggests how important it is to empathize and sympathize with your prospects and clients.

However, there’s a very fine line between understanding and respecting someone’s decision making process; and assuming that everyone makes a purchasing decision in the same manner and using the same criteria that you do. Moreover, there is also the faulty assumption that your prospects respond in a similar fashion to the type of sales approach and the type of salesperson that you respond to and would buy from.

I then shared a personal example of the dangers of selling like you buy. “Folks, if I sold in the same manner in which I make a purchase and then in turn, transfer those values and beliefs on each prospect that I speak with, then I could tell you with great certainty that I would not be up here talking with you today.”

Reason being, when I make a purchase of any substantial amount, I take the time to research my options and learn about the different products or services available. By the time I’m ready to actually make the purchase, whether it’s something for my home, a television a car or a computer, more often than not, I will know more about the product, the competition and the marketplace than the person who is attempting to sell it to me.

My point is, if I started selling the way in which I make a purchasing decision, I am now putting my values, thought process and beliefs on the customer, assuming they purchase the same or in a similar way that I do. The result? More objections, less sales.

Besides, what if I was talking with an impulsive or assertive prospect who was ready to buy? I would be talking myself right out of the sale!”

Lets defuse a costly myth. The old adage of putting yourself in their shoes is really a costly assumption that destroys many a selling opportunity. Why? Because when you “look through their eyes” or attempt to see things how you assume they see them, it is still really what you see, not what they see.

The result? You develop a sales process based on how you think they buy rather than how they actually make a decision. Why? Because how you think they buy is really how you buy. (Is your brain twisted enough yet?)

If you truly want to wear their shoes, then you need to know how they think and what is important to them. Therefore, the only way to uncover how the prospect likes to process information, make a purchasing decision and the criteria they use to do so is by asking better questions.

Now, lets take this same ineffective model of selling like you buy and turn it around for a moment. If this belief of selling like the way you buy is getting in the way of taking certain actions or asking certain questions when on a sales call, then what about other things that you are doing or saying which you think are safe to you but in fact, are not safe or comfortable for the person you are speaking with because you’re still operating off the same tool, costly assumptions!

The lesson; Don’t believe everything you sell, I mean, tell yourself.

Salespeople who sell in the same manner in which they buy are sure to have a lower number of satisfied clients. Take a look at some different scenarios where utilizing your own beliefs, assumptions and value system can have a detrimental effect on your performance and income.

There are salespeople out there who are even more indecisive than their prospects. Can you see it? “I’ll ask for the order now. No, I’ll wait a little longer. No, I might miss the opportunity to do so later, so I better do it now.” This can clearly put a damper on your performance as well as your mental health.

Sell in the manner in which you were trained to sell and stick with the proven selling sequence that works for you and within your industry or profession. You cannot expect prospects to purchase in the same manner as you do.

If you sell in the same manner as you buy, you are instilling your beliefs onto the other people. Since every person’s beliefs and buying habits are different, every prospect processes information differently. What is important to one person may not be important to another. Therefore, there will never be two presentations exactly the same.

While one prospect might weigh company stability and the quality or value of the product as the most important aspect in making their decision, another prospect might weigh price as the most important.

Learn to adapt your presentation around the values of each specific prospect. In the end, people make purchasing decisions based on their style of buying, not yours.

You can read the full article here.

Tags: close more sales, how to sell, sales articles, Sales Coaching, sales tips, Sales Training, selling tips